Man harasses ex-lover, publishes her photo, contact to pass her off as sex worker
Divorcee Tay Ling Choon did not just call his ex-lover a “prostitute”, he tried to make it seem like she was one by making public her contact number and photo, to advertise online that she was providing sexual services.
SINGAPORE — Bitter that his lover of no more than three months ended their relationship, Tay Ling Choon put up three “advertisements” online using the woman’s photo and contact number, saying she offered paid sexual services when she did not.
He also insulted and threatened the woman over text messages on the phone, calling her a prostitute and other crude names.
On Monday (Jan 14), the 47-year-old, who is unemployed, pleaded guilty to a charge under the Protection from Harassment Act, along with another charge of stealing two S$2 pouches last year.
District Judge Mathew Joseph said that Tay’s actions towards the woman were “quite horrendous”, as they were made through “conscious, deliberate choice” over a period of six months.
“With or without love, (there is no justification to) take his frustrations on (the woman that way),” he said.
Tay was to be sentenced on Monday, but he had a seizure during a break in court. He remains out on a S$10,000 bail and will return to court on Jan 28.
Tay and his 40-year-old victim — who cannot be named due to a gag order — are both divorced. After meeting at a parenting workshop in November 2015, they started having a sexual relationship.
She ended the liaison shortly after in January 2016.
Upset by the turn of events, Tay started using his phone to send text messages in the form of insults and threats to his ex-lover.
He also claimed that he would kill himself “to end his pain” and pretended to be his mother, informing the woman that he had carried out the deed, court documents showed.
When these did not work, he threatened to publish photos and videos of them having sex on platforms such as Facebook, citizen journalism website Stomp and chat application Line, adding that he would send the pictures to her ex-husband as well.
Tay also used vulgarities and abusive language in his messages, calling her a “filthy woman” and a “prostitute wife”.
In a bid to stop him from giving her more trouble, the victim lodged a magistrate’s complaint in March 2016.
However, the harassment continued.
On April 3, 2016, Tay put up an advertisement on Facebook using the woman’s photo and contact number, listing the prices for the sexual services offered by her and the payment methods accepted.
He did a similar listing on online classifieds site Locanto, falsely describing the woman as a 23-year-old fresh graduate.
The court also heard that Tay called his son’s secondary school to make a false claim that his ex-lover’s son had threatened to beat up his son, causing a teacher to go on a wild goose chase on April 13, 2016 as the school investigated the allegation.
On April 20, both Tay and the woman met at the Community Mediation Centre following her magistrate’s complaint. They signed a settlement agreement to immediately stop communicating with each other and to stop posting content about the other party on any social media platform.
However, just 30 minutes after the mediation session, Tay breached the agreement by calling the victim.
In doing that, Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Lim Shin Hui said that Tay was “almost making a mockery” of the mediation process.
When the woman started receiving messages from men enquiring about the sexual services advertised, she decided to make a police report on May 16, 2016, and then another on July 1 after finding out about the Locanto listing when more men contacted her.
On Aug 20, the victim received a message from a stranger who informed her that he got her contact number from Tay’s Facebook account.
She then discovered that Tay had published another post claiming that she was providing sexual services, after he ranted about her being promiscuous.
She made a third police report on Sept 6, 2016.
In seeking a sentence of at least 10 months in jail, DPP Lim said: “The accused engaged in a course of conduct which involved acts associated with stalking… (The acts) caused harassment to the victim and the accused intended to cause harassment to the victim.”
DPP Lim added that Tay committed theft at a shop in Nex mall while on bail on April 14 last year, which showed his “total disregard for authority and blatant disrespect for the law”.
During mitigation, Ms Sadhana Rai, who represented Tay on a pro-bono basis, said that he committed the theft under “immense pressure” because of the charges against him, adding that Tay suffers from a number of mental conditions, including depression and borderline personality disorder.
After his divorce, Tay lived alone in a one-room rental flat, Ms Rai told the court.
Appealing for a lighter sentence, the lawyer said that Tay “acted in a foolish manner” and has a tendency to “resort to this kind of actions when stressed”. In light of his medical conditions, she said that longer incarceration will not help his situation.
Tay may be jailed up to 12 months and fined up to S$5,000 if he is convicted of unlawfully stalking his ex-lover. For committing theft, he may be jailed up to seven years and fined.
